1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method of generating a suggested navigation route on a portable electronic device, and more particularly, to a method of generating a suggested navigation route according to a path indicated by a user stroking a touch-sensitive screen of the portable electronic device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Global Positioning System (GPS) based navigation devices are well known and are widely employed as in-car navigation devices. Common functions of a navigation device include providing a map database for generating navigation instructions that are then shown on a display of the navigation device. These navigation devices are often mounted on or in the dashboard of a vehicle using a suction mount or other mounting means.
The term “navigation device” refers to a device that enables a user to navigate to a pre-defined destination. The device may have an internal system for receiving location data, such as a GPS receiver, or may merely be connectable to a receiver that can receive location data. The device may compute a route itself, or communicate with a remote server that computes the route and provides navigation information to the device, or a hybrid device in which the device itself and a remote server both play a role in the route computation process. Personal GPS navigation devices are not permanently integrated into a vehicle but instead are devices that can readily be mounted in or otherwise used inside a vehicle. Generally (but not necessarily), they are fully self-contained—i.e. include an internal GPS antenna, navigation software and maps and can hence plot and display a route to be taken.
One useful feature of personal navigation devices is the ability to list nearby points of interest (POIs). In rural areas, points of interest may be spread out far from each other, and can easily be shown on the display of the personal navigation device. However, when traveling through cities or other areas where there are many points of interest in close proximity to one another, there can be tens of points of interest located very close together.
In a personal navigation device, providing the ability for the user of the personal navigation device to create a route is an important function. Typically, when a user wishes to create a route, the user decides a destination location of the route. In some instances, the user may also indicate a starting location for the route.
Two conventional ways of defining the destination location involve inputting the destination location using text input or inputting the destination location by pointing to a location on a map shown on a screen of the personal navigation device. In the first method involving text input, the user of the personal navigation device can use a keyboard to input an address of the destination location or to input a keyword to find a location. The second method of receiving touch input works so long as a display of the personal navigation device is a touch-sensitive screen.
Although these two conventional methods of defining the destination location do work to identify the destination location of a route, the user is only able to specify the destination location at the end of the route, and the user is not always able to create a customized route to the user's satisfaction. When determining a route based only on a given destination location, the personal navigation device may create a route that is a simple straight line from the current location of the personal navigation device to the destination location.
The prior art provides a few methods of customizing routes generated by the personal navigation device. Some personal navigation devices allow routes to be selected based on a chosen route type, such as the fastest route, the shortest route, the most economical route, etc. In this case, the route type selected by the user determines the route characteristics. However, once the route has been created, the user is unable to modify the details of the route.
Another prior art method of customizing routes involves setting multiple waypoints along the route. Although this gives the user a great deal of control over the generated route, this requires a great deal of time to be spent by the user in order to enter the multiple waypoints and to confirm that the generated route is correct.
Due to the drawbacks associated with each of the prior art input methods, there exists a need for a quick and convenient input method for a user to be able to enter a customized route while giving the user the ability to fine tune the generated route.